ESG Content Reviews: The Chi
“The Chi isn’t just a show—it’s a blueprint for what equity, self-determination, and resilience look like in modern America.”
Created by Emmy-winning screenwriter Lena Waithe, The Chi is a gripping coming-of-age drama set on the South Side of Chicago. Premiering in 2018 on Showtime and now streaming on Paramount+, the series chronicles the interconnected lives of residents navigating love, violence, poverty, ambition, and survival in a community often overlooked or misrepresented.
From teenagers on bicycles to former gang members seeking redemption, the series explores the humanity and complexity of Black life beyond headlines and tropes. Through richly developed characters, The Chi shines a spotlight on systemic issues while celebrating the spirit of community.
♻️ ESG Overview
ESG Factor Impact in The Chi
Environmental Implicit in urban landscape, housing, and resource access. Lacks explicit eco-narrative.
Social Powerful representation of racial equity, gender roles, trauma, and cultural resilience.
Governance Examines broken civic systems—policing, education, housing—with community-led counterforces.
🧠 ESG Story Arc: Emmett Washington
Character played by Jacob Latimore
📍 Background
When we meet Emmett in Season 1, he's a young hustler juggling fast money, sneakers, and girls while trying to avoid real responsibility. By Season 6, he evolves into one of the show’s most transformative characters: a father, a small business owner, and a man trying to build a better legacy for his children than what he inherited.
📈 Social: Breaking Cycles of Toxic Masculinity
Emmett’s arc is a social justice blueprint. Raised by a single mother, he becomes a young father himself, repeating generational patterns—until he begins to confront them. Through his struggles with co-parenting, monogamy, and emotional growth, The Chi explores:
Redefining Black fatherhood in media: From absentee to actively involved.
Consent, accountability, and emotional maturity: Emmett's relationships evolve from transactional to transparent.
Navigating masculinity: With no blueprint, Emmett learns that strength includes vulnerability and responsibility.
ESG Tie-In: Emmett’s personal transformation mirrors cultural movements that promote emotional intelligence, family equity, and gender role reformation.
🏛 Governance: Entrepreneurship as Local Economic Justice
Emmett’s business journey—from running a food stand to owning “Smokey’s BBQ”—reflects a community-led response to economic disenfranchisement. In the absence of corporate jobs, city grants, or bank loans, Black entrepreneurship becomes a tool of governance by the people.
His business provides local employment and culturally resonant food.
He resists gentrification and corporate exploitation, aligning with self-governance and community investment values.
He partners with others but struggles with ethical leadership, highlighting how hard it is to govern with integrity under pressure.
ESG Tie-In: Emmett’s rise models sustainable, inclusive economic growth in underserved communities—what ESG frameworks seek in social enterprise.
🌍 Environmental: Indirect but Symbolic
While Emmett doesn’t directly engage with climate or environmental themes, his business reflects the interconnection between food justice, local sourcing, and sustainable urban economies.
In future seasons, the show could expand on this by:
Exploring green entrepreneurship (e.g., composting, urban farming, renewable food packaging).
Connecting food deserts and health outcomes, tying public health to environmental equity.
🌆 Broader ESG Themes in The Chi
🧑🤝🧑 Social:
Community-led education (e.g., Trig’s mentorship, community schools)
LGBTQ+ inclusion through characters like Imani, portrayed as strong, compassionate, and integral to the community fabric
Trauma-informed storytelling, especially with Keisha’s kidnapping arc, creating space for survivor voices
🏛 Governance:
Police corruption, lack of accountability, and alternatives to traditional law enforcement
Grassroots organizing and leadership (e.g., Trig’s city council run)
Land ownership, eviction struggles, and civic negligence
🌳 Environment:
Though underutilized, The Chi could integrate climate and urban ecology themes:
Vacant lots turned into gardens
Access to clean air and water
Community cleanups as bonding and activism
📝 ESG Verdict
⭐ Final ESG Rating: 4.5 / 5 Stars
The Chi is an ESG powerhouse in the “S” and “G” categories, with storytelling that is both emotionally resonant and socially significant. With the addition of environmental justice themes, it could become one of the few TV dramas that fully realizes the ESG storytelling triad.
Ideal for:
ESG professionals seeking authentic media representation of systemic issues
DEI leaders and urban planners
Civic educators and nonprofit trainers
Students of governance, race, and community resilience